Second airport row heats up; AAI inspects two locations in Bengaluru
While the state government has shortlisted the three sites closer to Bengaluru, a group led by senior Congress leader TB Jayachandra has urged the government to consider Sira
The government’s proposal for Bengaluru’s second international airport has sparked differences between the state government, and a group of 42 members of legislative assembly (MLAs) who have pushed for Sira, in Tumakuru district, as the final location.
This comes even as a technical team from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) inspected two of the three government shortlisted sites — Chudahalli and Somanahalli along Kanakapura Road, and a third site on Nelamangala-Kunigal Road.
While the state government has shortlisted the three sites closer to Bengaluru, a group led by senior Congress leader TB Jayachandra has urged the government to consider Sira, about 120 km to the north-west of Bengaluru. Meanwhile, concerns over viability, investor interest, and regulatory hurdles continue to shape the ongoing discussions.
Amid the ongoing evaluations, Congress leader and Sira MLA TB Jayachandra, who also serves as Karnataka’s special representative in New Delhi, said that a petition signed by 42 MLAs was submitted to chief minister Siddaramaiah on April 3, urging him to consider Sira for the new international airport.
He argued that the town’s location offers long-term strategic advantages, being close to HAL’s helicopter factory and the DRDO facility at Challakere in neighbouring Chitradurga.
“The locations selected at present do not have access to water. In Sira, there is a constant access to water from the Hemavathi river, the Bhadra river and the Yettinahole project,” he told media.
Jayachandra also pointed to the availability of 6,000 acres of land in Sira, which he believed was ideal for airport development.
Speaking in Bengaluru on Tuesday, home minister G Parameshwara underlined the importance of relying on expert evaluation rather than political preferences.
“When we talked about an international airport in Bidadi, the technical team said it would not happen, so we went to Devanahalli. Now we have to see if they say it will happen in that area or not,” he said, referring to past proposals that were dismissed due to feasibility concerns.
“They look at whether there is a hill or an airfield. If we put pressure on the technically existing ones, will it be possible to change? Will it happen if we acquire 5,000 acres of land?” he added.
Industries and infrastructure development minister MB Patil also rejected the idea of building the new airport in Sira, stating that the current proposal is meant for Bengaluru, not for a distant district.
“We’re talking about a second international airport for Bengaluru, not a district airport,” he said.
Patil acknowledged the need for better air connectivity in the Tumakuru-Sira-Chitradurga region, but clarified that it should be developed separately as a district airport project.
He also questioned the business rationale of placing the airport far from Bengaluru.
“If home minister G Parameshwara and I, as residents of Sadashivanagar (in Bengaluru), wanted to fly to New Delhi, would we go to Sira?” he asked, while emphasising that investors like the Ambanis, BIAL, or the Tatas would be guided by financial and logistical feasibility.
Meanwhile, the top officials from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Tuesday inspected two of the three shortlisted sites for Bengaluru’s proposed second airport.
According to a senior official, the AAI team was given detailed technical presentations on Monday, which included site terrain, 10-year weather reports, connectivity via road, rail and metro, and proximity to Bengaluru.
The two sites inspected on Tuesday are located off Kanakapura Road. Following the inspection, AAI officials held discussions with infrastructure development minister M B Patil, according to a release from his office.
However, any new airport will have to navigate a binding clause in the agreement between Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, which prohibits the establishment of another airport within a 150-km aerial radius of Kempegowda International Airport until 2033 — the 25th anniversary of BIAL’s operations.
With inputs from PTI